Huber Law inmates face few searches at jail

7:23 PM,
Apr. 20, 2013

Inmates in a Huber cell block watch TV at the Marathon County Jail in 2010.

Written by

Shereen Skola
Daily Herald Media

About one-third of the inmates at the Marathon County Jail leave on work release each day, and not one is subjected to a strip search upon returning to the jail, potentially jeopardizing the security and safety of inmates and jail staff members.

Wisconsin's Huber Law, originally passed in 1913, is the nation's oldest work-release program for jail inmates. Named for Progressive politician Henry Huber, the program once was seen as a dramatic new approach to criminal justice. In Marathon County today, the Huber Law allows sentenced inmates to leave the jail for up to 12 hours a day, six days a ...